Fanning-mill.



No. 735,041. 'PATENTED JULY 28, 1903. W. SPBRRY. FANNING MILL.

AIPLIOATIOI" FILED JUNE 15, 1900.

10 MODEL.

2 8HEBTS-SHEET 1.

M WI LIS SPERRY TME "cams PETERS no, mam-uma, WASHINGTON, a c.

UNITED STATES Patented July 28, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIS SPERRY, OF OWATONNA, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR TO SPERRY MANUFACTURING 00., OF OXVATONNA, MINNESOTA, A CORPORATION OF MINNESOTA.

FANNlNG-MILL.

bPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 735,041, dated July 28, 1903.

Application filed June 15, 1900. Serial No. 20,411. (No model.

To all whom, it ntrty concern:

Be it known that LVVILLIS SPERRY, of Owatonna, Steele county, Minnesota, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Fanning-Mills, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to fanning-mills for separating grain, and particularly to doubleshoe fanning-mills.

The object of my invention is to provide a fanning-mill having two vibratory shoes preferably inclined in opposite directions and each adapted to contain one or more screens or sieves, upon which the grain is separated.

Considerable difficulty is encountered in providing simple means for supporting and driving two shoes in the same frame, and the particular object of this invention is to simplify and cheapen the supports and driving connections for fanning-mills of the double type.

Theinvention consists generally in the construction and combinations of parts hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims, and the same will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a fanningmill embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section thereof. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section on the line a: a; of Fig. 2. Figs. 4 and 5 are side and sectional views of the hinge joints or pivots for the rods or bars that support the shoe.

As shown in the drawings, the frame of the machine is made up of the legs2, connected by the side boards i and the various cross boards or bars 5. The grain-hopper 6 is arranged in the top of the frame. The hopper is provided with a discharge-opening 7 in its bottom, which may be regulated from the bottom of the hopper by the slide 8.

9 is the shaft of the fan 10. This shaft is provided with bearings 11 upon the rear legs 2 of the machine. It is driven by a suitable crank and gears (not shown) upon one of its ends.

13 is the fan-casing, having openings in its ends, which openings are regulable by means of the usual slides 12.

14. and 15 are the two sieve-shoes of the machine. These may be of any desired shape or outline suitable to the particular assortment of screens or sieves to be used. The upper shoe is used principally for'separating the grain from the chaff after the manner of the old-fashioned fanning-mills, while the lower shoe, withits screens, serves as a separator for the dilferent kinds of grain and seeds. It is for this reason that the upper shoe '14 is provided with the deflecting-boards 16 in its bottom to direct the principal volume of air from the fan upwardly against and through the screens in the upper shoe, while to prevent the blowing of the light grains from the screens in the lower shoe I provide the deflector-board 17in the lower part of the frame just above the foot or tail end of the lower shoe. Between the deflector 17 and the board 16 a small space is preferably left for the passage of a light air blast. As shown, the screens in the two shoesincline oppositely, so that all of the material that falls passes the upper screens and is delivered upon the lower screens for final separation. The shoes are supported by the side links, rods, or bars 18 and 19, respectively, and the rocking shaft 20 provided with T-bars 21. This rocking shaft has bearings in the front legs 2 and 6X-' tends across the machine between the two shoes. The T-bars 21 are fastened upon the rocking shaft 20 and have their upper and lower ends pivoted to the sides of the upper and lower shoes, respectively. One end of the shaft 20 is bent upwardly to form the crankarm 22, from the end of which a connectingrod 23 extends to acrank-pin 24 upon the end of the fan-shaft 9. When the fan is driven, therefore, the shaft 20 will be rocked, and this movement will be communicated through the T-bars 21 to both shoes to vibrate them alternately in opposite directions. The throw of the shoes may be adjusted by changing-the bent end 25 of the connecting-rod 23 to a different hole 26 in the arm 22. I prefer that the two shoes when containing their complement of screens shall weigh about the same, so that they balance upon the T-bars and the rock-shaft to make the machine run easily without back jars upon the driving-crank. The pivotal fastenings for the links and the They T-bars are detailed in Figs. 4 and 5.

comprise the two small castings 27 and 28, bolted or riveted to the sides of the shoes and to the sides of the frames, as required in the places where used. The plate 27 is provided with a stud 29, passing througha hole in the plate 26 and on which the end of the bar or link is pivoted, space being allowed therefor between the two castings.

A difiicult point in the construction of a fanning-mill is at the bottom of the hopper, where it is necessary to shut off the opening between the hopper-bottom and the top board 30 of the upper shoe 14 to prevent the falling of grain into the fan. To do this, I face said board with sheet metal 31 and provide a sheetmetal strip 32 on the back board of the hopper. This strip 32 extends below the edge of the back board and has sulficient spring or resilience at all times to press upon the top board 30 and make a close joint therewith, so that no grain can Work back into the fancasing and no wind can get through overthe top of the shoe to disturb the regularity of the feeding of the grain from the hopper.

The wind from the fan prevents the clogging of the sieves or screens in the upper shoe; but in the case of the lower shoe, upon which the strong currents of air have but little effect, it is by no means easy to keep the screen clear. It is necessary in consequence to provide some way of automaticallyjarring the lower shoe to vibrate the grain upon the surface of the sieves and prevent the lodgment of grains and fine particles of material in the meshes of the sieves. For this purpose I provide stops or bumpers 33 upon the lower cross-bar of the frame beneath the lower end of the lower screen-shoe and fix the shoe so that it is alternately raised from and dropped upon said stops as the shoe is vibrated. This movement of the lower shoe is accomplished without the addition of any parts. The links 19 are simply thrown out of parallel with the T-bars 21 to give the lowerend of the shoe a greater rise and fall than the upper end, so that as the shoe is thrown forward by the movement of the rocking shaft the lower end of the shoe will be dropped down upon the bumpers 33 and receive a shock and jar. There is enough lost motion between the links 19 and their pivots to permit the shoe to complete its forward stroke after striking the bumpers. The shoes vibrate or reciprocate quite rapidly and the shocks upon the lower shoe are so frequent that the lower screens of the machine are thus kept perfectly clean. The bumpers 33 are simple castings or bent irons and are adjustable up and down to regulate the severity of the blows of the shoe thereon.

As modifications of the details of my invention will hereby be suggested to those skilled in the art, I do not confine my invention to the specific construction herein shown and described.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a fanning'mill, the combination with the frame and its legs, of the two shoes located between the legs, one above the other, the rocking shaft journaled in the front legs of the frame and extended from one side of V the frame to the other between the two shoes and having at one end a crank-arm, T-arms connected to the rocking shaft at opposite sides of the two shoes and having a pivotal connection with both shoes, links having a pivotal connection at one end with the frame and at the other end with the shoes, at the rear portion of the shoes, the pivotal connections for the T-arms and the links consisting each of two plates one of which has a stud entering a hole in the other plate to form a pintle for the T-arms and the links, and means for turning the rocking shaft to vibrate the two shoes in opposite directions, substantially as described.

2. A fanning-mill, comprising the frame and its legs, of two shoes located between the legs, one above the other, a rocking shaft suitably journaled between the two shoes and extending from one side of the frame to the other and having a crank-shaft, T-arms connected to said rocking shaft at opposite sides of the shoes and having a pivotal connection at their ends with said shoes, links having a pivotal connection at one end to the frame and at the other end to the shoes, said links being out of parallel with the T-arms on the rocking shaft, adjustable bumpers secured to the frame below the rear portion of the lower shoe for jarring said shoe in its vibration, and means for actuating the rocking shaft to vibrate the shoes in opposite directions, the rear portion of the lower shoe having a rising-and-falling motion to contact with the bumper, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, this 31st day of May, 1900, at Owatonna, Minnesota.

WILLIS SPERRY.

In presence of G. B. BENNETT, R. J. HOLMES. 

